1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for carrying an apparatus, such as a monitor, the system comprising:
a pedestal having a base with a circumferential edge; and
a peripheral device to be coupled to the pedestal;
whereby the base has means for coupling the peripheral device thereto.
In addition the present invention relates to a peripheral device, such as, for a universal serial bus USB, and the like, suited for application in a system, the peripheral device being provided with further means for coupling to a base of a pedestal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a system having a pest pedestal and peripheral device is known from an article entitled: xe2x80x9cProviding Upgradability to Computer Monitorsxe2x80x9d, 628/International Business Machines Corporation Research Disclosure, May 1998, NO. 409116. The known pedestal is provided with a tilt/swivel base possibly allowing a 360xc2x0 rotation. The tilt/swivel base has a plug-in for the peripheral device located therein. The peripheral device can be coupled at discrete positions, that is, either to the front or to the back of said base and can accommodate a wide range of plug-in upgrades, e.g., basic multi-media, USB hub, 1934 hub, a CD-ROM or floppy drive or device bay. Provided that the mechanical design of the tilt/swivel base provides enough space, any device could be added as an upgrade. In the case of a new set-up or arrangement of the system, a plug-in of the peripheral device can take place at the front or at the back of the tilt/swivel base, which means that, in practical situations, it may be necessary to lift the pedestal carrying the monitor or the like in order to rotate its base until the front or back side of the base is located such that the peripheral device can be plugged in at those sides. This manipulating requires a lot of force and may give rise to back injuries.
The present invention aims at obviating this drawback by providing a system, wherein such exacting handlings are not needed and even completely abandoned.
Therefore the system according to the invention is characterized in that the coupling means are arranged to couple the peripheral device to the circumferential edge at any position thereof.
It is an advantage of the system according to the invention that a peripheral device accommodating an aforementioned plug-in upgrade can now be coupled in any desired position to the circumferential edge, without any lift or rotation of the pedestal and carried peripheral device being necessary thereto. This provides for flexibility and ease of practical use, in particular after the making of changes to the system. In addition as desired even more than two peripheral devices can be coupled to the base simultaneously at desired positions along the circumferential edge of the base. A further advantage of the system according to the invention is, that the outer dimensions of the pedestral only increase, upon coupling of the peripheral device or devices to the circumferential edge of the base. That is to say in uncoupled state, the pedestral advantageously has a small size, which only increases if a peripheral device is being coupled to the circumferential edge.
An embodiment of the system according to the invention has the characterizing feature that the circumferential edge completely surrounds the base.
Advantageously, the manufacturing costs of this embodiment are low, because the circumferential edge has a uniform size. More preferably, the base is circular.